Lobster Thermidor
Lobster Thermidor is a French dish consisting of a creamy mixture of cooked lobster meat, egg yolks, and brandy, stuffed into a lobster shell. It can also be served with an oven-browned cheese crust, typically Gruyère. The sauce must contain mustard. Due to expensive ingredients and extensive preparation involved, Lobster Thermidor is usually considered a recipe primarily for special occasions.History
The recipe of Lobster Thermidor was created in 1891 by Leopold Mourier, a former assistant to Auguste Escoffier. It was created in Maison Maire, a Parisian restaurant near the Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin. In January 1891 the play Thermidor by Victorien Sardou opened in that theatre. The play took its name from a summer month in the French Republican Calendar, during which the Thermidorian Reaction occurred, overthrowing Robespierre and ending the Reign of Terror. The play was highly controversial and was closed by the authorities, re-opening in March 1896.
Maison Maire's owner, Ms. Paillard, created the name of the recipe due to the play's notoriety.
